o 
which have proved effectual in other countries where similar 
evils have been dealt with, namely, the formation of plnnta- 
• • tions of forest timber, the re-wooding of waste lands, the 
establishment of well defined Reserves, and the protection of 
such patches of forest as are now existing. 
7. It will he bv these means that in years to come the 
_ m m *' 
climate and soil of the Colony will be improved ; that a supply 
of Timber will be provided when those sources of supply now 
open are closed to us ; and that the Settlements, through 
afforestation, will present a totally different aspect. 
8. Many foreign species, of trees have been recently intro- 
duced which, it is hoped, will prove to be admirably adapted 
for the re-forestation of waste lands,* and the collection and cul- 
tivation of these, together with the best of the indigenous spe- 
cise, will form plantations all over the Settlements. 
DESCRIPTIVE. 
Topographical Features. 1. The island of Singapore lies at the Southern extremity 
of the Malayan Peninsula, from which it is separated by a nar- 
row strait of about three quarters of a mile in width, and it is 
situated in latitude IT 6' 13" north, and east longitude 103*53' 15". 
There are several small islands adjacent to it forming part of 
the Settlement which comprises an area of 115,000 acres. Its 
greatest length is 27 miles, and greatest breadth 14 miles. 
* 
2. For administrative and general purposes, the island is 
divided into twenty-nine districts, which will be seen on the 
annexed map. See Appendix F. 
3. It may be roughly stated that about half of the island 
is under cultivation of all sorts, and the articles produced are 
chiefly gambier, pepper, tapioca, indigo, coeoanuts, pine apples, 
areca-nuts, Liberian coffee, cocoa, sago, lemon grass, native 
vegetables and fruits of all sorts. 
4. The surface of the island is very irregular, being little 
other than a series of small hills with narrow alluvial valleys 
between, there being nowhere any large flats. The hills stretch 
in ramified systems in various directions. The highest, which 
is Bukit Timah, rises to an elevation of 530 feet above sea level, 
and occupies a position in the centre of the island, where, with 
Bukit Panjang and Bukit Kalang, a triangle is formed within 
which rests the chief highland of the {Settlement, and from 
which, with two exceptions, the elevation gradually falls to the 
coast. The chief exception to this rule commences at Bukit Pan- 
jang, on the west of which the general elevation suddenly falls 
almost to sea level and forms the valley which stretches across 
the districts of Pandan, Jnrong, West Bukit Timah and Lim 
Chu Kang, and through the bottom of which the Kranji and 
Jnrong rivers (creeks) almost meet and form a separate Island. 
On the west of this valley at Peng Kang and Tengeh, the ele- 
vation gradually rises and attains its maximum height in a 
series of hills which stretch along the coast line in the extreme 
west of the island, and where some of the highest sea cliffs in 
the Settlement occur. The other exception is chiefly constitut- 
ed by the Mount Faber ranjjje, which commences at the coast 
line a little- to the west of the town* of Singapore and runs 
for about three miles in a westerly direction. The highest laud 
uf this range rises to an elevation 291 feet above sea level, while 
100 feet may he taken as a fair average of the smaller hills of 
the Island. 
